Epicure, Paris (3*)

First time going to a 3* Michelin Restaurant so decided to opt for classical French as my first time. Went to Epicure in Paris for my meal and it was overall pretty good though a few hiccups.

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-Canapes-

Duck Foie Gras Royale- warm melt in your mouth foie gras with green apple foam works wonderfully together

Sea Snail on a Crisp-bit of mustard is great

Lil Bread Bite filled with Brie,Apricot and Fig- the goat cheese works well with the fruit

Brioche was good, if anything I wish the bread they served with the bread n butter was replaced with just this.

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-Bread and Butter-

Bread isn’t as soft as I would have liked but still pretty good. The first slab of butter they gave us ended up not being room temp/spreadable though, as I noticed other people’s spread was much easier.

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~Caviar with Potato Mousseline on the bottom, served with a Filled Buckwheat Crisp-

Caviar itself tastes like squid ink and goes well with the smooth potatos. The buckwheat crisp cuts it nicely and is hollow throughout with the sour dressing. Good starter.

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~Langoustine cooked with Lemon and Thyme-

The foam is like orange juice mixed with the flavor of crab shell. The langoustine is perfectly sweet on the inside and the onion mango accompaniment works great in enhancing the seafood.

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~Candele Macaroni stuffed with Artichoke, served with a Parmesan and Black truffle foam-

The smell wafts up immediately when the lid is taken off. The texture of the macaroni is spot on and the yellow cheese foam and the truffle foam go with the macaroni well, though the artichoke filling feels almost like it’s lost in there. If anything, I would say that the overall dish was a tad salty.

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~Salmon slow cooked with Fennel and Cucumber in Mint Oil and Rice Vinegar-

So soft that it’s almost like sashimi. The sauce with it is almost like an acidic pesto substitute that compliments the fish insanely well.

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~Veal Sweetbreads roasted with Amaretto and served with Red onions and Vinegar-

It almost tastes a bit like how fried chicken smells (if anyone knows that smell haha). The sweetbreads themselves are very soft and fatty without there being a huge amt of other flavor and are cut by the onions and the reduction.

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~The Cheese course-

Well, cheese is cheese lol. It’s a pretty nice selection though.

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~”Wild Strawberries” served with Lavender Sorbet, Confit Strawberries, and Candy Leaves –

I really like the aesthetic of this dessert, you can really tell that a lot of time and detail went into every little component, with my favorite being the candy leaves that offer a great crunch. The whole design of it is great.

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~Chocolate from Ecuador-

The ice cream has a deep almost espresso flavor and the crispy bitter notes of the crunch and the sweet praline balance it all very well.

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~Lemon and Chamomile Tea Palate Cleanser-

Pretty nice palate cleanser. I think the membrane formed around it though is a bit thick, when you consider how this technique has been around in the culinary world for a long while now.

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-Dessert Trolley was fine. Ended up getting one of everything to try with my sister. I know they used to provide a lot more options in this though so would have been cool to try those not available anymore.

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Overall, I would say it was a pretty good experience at the restaurant. Couple of hiccups though:

1. I didn’t finish EVERYTHING on my plate during the cheese course and I don’t know if the server was trying to act standoffish or peeved in a sarcastic way but it kind of rubbed my sister the wrong way because it made her uncomfortable.
2. We ended up just staying with water for our beverage but for some reason, we saw them pour our bottle for other guests sometimes. We wouldn’t have really minded if we weren’t charged per bottle of water though which at that point just felt really weird. At the end, we ended up being charged for like, 4 bottles of water which was like… how much of that did you give to other tables?
3. Vibe is indeed a little stuffy, like I can almost feel the tension in there. It really didn’t help that I noticed a lot of the servers walking around, mumbling to each other in a way that felt like they were gossiping/discussing the guests in a manner that wasn’t related to the food or service.

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I think I’d probably give it an 8/10 overall. Food is great, though there were a couple hiccups or things that could have been better there. The service was pleasant enough, though it felt like it was almost a facade considering how some of the employees felt/acted ya know. Would I come back? Sure, but next time, I’d probably just end up ordering all the items on the dessert menu because I have a huge sweet tooth and I’d kinda like that.

Went to Epicure on a recent trip to Paris. It was one of the more disappointing 3* experiences I’ve had. I found the food to be very bland and in memorable. We also really disliked the service – not only did it feel stuffy, but the Somm poured us wines BTG for a pairing that wound up costing us €85 per glass (€170 per course between the two of us), with no mention of price until the bill came. Extremely disappointing experience.

Looks like a good meal. But maybe it’s just me but I wouldn’t think this was a 3* meal just from looking at the pictures.